Asst. Prof. Annie Perez-Gallardo recently presented her documentary “Tay-og: The 6.9 Magnitude Earthquake in Cebu” at the recently concluded Beyond Borders 2.0 Asia – Journalism for and with Refugees, Migrants, and Host Communities. It is a regional conference organized by DW Akademie in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The conference brought together journalists, researchers, and educators from South, Southeast, and East Asia.
The documentary was presented under the panel entitled Visual Testimonies of Climate Displacement and Natural Disaster. It showed the lived realities of displacement such of leaving one’s home not by choice, but out of necessity. Disaster-induced migration often remains unseen, occurring long after media attention has shifted elsewhere, as affected communities relocate, adapt, and rebuild their lives. In this context, visual testimonies play a crucial role in making these experiences visible and understood.
During the screening of the documentary, the audience’s emotional response underscored how powerful visual documentation and storytelling can reshape the way disasters are understood and remembered.
A recurring reflection was the Visayan word Padayon, meaning “to carry on.” The response from the conference reaffirmed the importance of telling these stories in visual form across borders.
Photos from Sapna Zamir